


Mirror Vulcans - Not the Pacifists You Think They Are

by iam_spock (FanficbyLee)



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Essays, Gen, Mirror Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-08
Updated: 2013-09-08
Packaged: 2017-12-26 01:16:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/959870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanficbyLee/pseuds/iam_spock
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thoughts on the Star Trek Mirror Universe and the place that Vulcan has in the Terran Empire. This is an essay not a fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mirror Vulcans - Not the Pacifists You Think They Are

After watching Mirror, Mirror, and Through a Mirror Darkly more times than I can count, I have become frustrated by the illogical treatment and assumptions about the way Vulcans are handled in Mirror canon. (I will not include the DS9 Mirror episodes in this. I have not seen them enough times to have any feelings about them, and other than Tuvok, there is not much mention of the Vulcan people.)

In Mirror, Mirror, Spock uses the threat of his friends and allies being Vulcans twice—once to Kirk and once to Sulu—while Kirk isn’t threatened by it since he is not the Mirror Kirk, Sulu is. Sulu who terrorizes most of the ship is frightened by Spock’s threat. That keys us into one major fact: Vulcans are to be feared. This seems to have been completely forgotten in Through a Mirror Darkly. 

Now don’t get me wrong, I love the Enterprise Mirror episodes. They told a wonderful story, and seeing the Mirror versions of everyone was a blast. The relationships of the crew, the savagery of the way they handled things, was brilliant. But they got Vulcans wrong in my opinion. 

In Through a Mirror Darkly, they gave us a flashback to when Vulcans arrived on Earth for First Contact. Zephram Cochrane assumes they are invaders, and the humans kill the Vulcans and take over their ship to steal the technology. In canon, it is assumed that these are the same exactly peaceful Vulcans that arrive in the TNG movie, First Contact. 

But what if they weren’t? 

There is no reason to assume that the dark ambition that created the Terran Empire occurs only on Earth. There is no reason to believe that Vulcan was not also a planet of conquerors. In other words, what if Cochrane was right? What if Vulcan was there to conquer Earth? 

Vulcan is a world that has never been conquered in their recorded history. The only time their world was nearly destroyed was by their own hands during the Time of the Awakening. In the main universe, Vulcans chose to stop fighting. They began to control their emotions to embrace logic. In canon this is when the originators of the Romulan Empire left Vulcan, but in the Mirror universe they may have stayed behind.

There can be logic and ambition.  
There can be logic and strength.  
There can be logic and control.

In Amok Time, Spock has weapons on the walls of his quarters. T’Pring is a stone cold bitch in her logical manipulation to get rid of Spock. In the main universe, Vulcans are not a fluffy, gentle species. According to TAS, they send their children out into the desert to survive and prove they are worthy of being Vulcan. These are not the acts of a passive society. Even their house pets have 6 inch fangs. 

In the Mirror universe it is illogical to assume that they rolled over and let the Earthers conquer them. They might not have fought back, when they easily could have destroyed the Earth ships. Humans took one single Vulcan vessel. Vulcan had a fleet. (Also wouldn’t Vulcan High Command have noticed that their ship went missing long before the humans had time to copy tech and build their own ships?)

If Vulcan gave in to the Empire it was because it would be better for them to. The needs of the many…Allying with the Terran Empire would give Vulcan resources that they did not have before. During the course of Enterprise’ 4 seasons, we find out that Romulan infiltrators had been manipulating members of the Vulcan High Command who in turn played puppet masters to early Starfleet. In the Mirror Universe, there is no need for Romulans to do the Vulcans’ dirty work for them. They’d do it themselves. 

Jump forward another hundred years and Vulcan is now part of the Terran Empire with Ambassadors on Earth, high powered people who manipulate and pull strings to ensure their own prosperity and survival. They do it logically, and they do it well. 

Vulcan is not a conquered world. They are partners with the Terran Empire. Why do they let the humans run the show? Because it is better to be the power behind the throne than it is to be the target sitting on it. 

This is why the threat is frightening because a Vulcan friend is a powerful enemy. They have long fingers that can help to arrange your accidental death or curl around your throat. Vulcans are a patient people who can wait decades for revenge. Perhaps AOS Kirk was right, “Never trust a Vulcan.”


End file.
